The most obvious marketing response prompted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been the acceleration of digital. Ecommerce sales grew 43% in 2020, by 15% in 2021, and are expected to grow by another 11% in 2022. It follows that an online store is now more important than ever for many ecommerce and retail businesses with whom we work. And it all starts with a clear, comprehensive, and flexible ecommerce marketing strategy.
An online store must perform well on both desktop & mobile devices. But it also should align with and support your sales efforts at physical locations and through other distribution channels. Businesses have to change their approach and tactics to deal with new rules, designs, and processes. Here we outline 3 keys to your ecommerce marketing strategy to help you make decisions about your online store’s design and content before creating or updating it.
1. A Smooth Transition for Your Brick & Mortar Business
Many businesses approach us uncertain about how to approach adding an online sales option. But if your brand currently has a physical location, it will actually be easier to add ecommerce to your business model than starting from scratch. While many new businesses still believe they should start out as an ecommerce-based brand, established brick & mortar businesses benefit from the following:
- Known Brand - Your business already has a recognizable brand and logo to attract consumers that have seen your physical location or print advertisements.
- Loyal/Repeat Customers - With your brand come existing customers; these customers easily recognize your business through digital media. They trust your online store because they already trust your physical location.
- You Know What Sells - You already know which of your products are the most successful at your physical location. You also know which products are not so successful at your physical location. Offer the most popular or successful products on your online store to deliver profitable ecommerce.
That said, it's important to keep in mind that your online store doesn't just generate new digital sales — it supports your in-store efforts. A broad ecommerce approach that supports your brick & mortar stores enables shoppers to explore and test merchandise; check sizes, colors, and quality; collect online sales (“click and collect”); and avoid delivery fees for returns. Your online store should not only add an additional sales channel but support the ones you already have.
2. The Importance of Ecommerce on Mobile Devices
Online purchases are increasingly made through mobile devices. Businesses must prepare their websites for the majority of consumers who now expect to review and purchase products via a mobile site’s ecommerce platform with minimal friction. Consumers increasingly want to buy products with little to no time between the decision to buy and the actual purchase. Accommodate your customers and meet their expectations with a convenient mobile store. Or, they will leave your site or app to visit another site at which they can easily buy or view similar products. Below are a few tips to maintain customers’ satisfaction on your mobile site or app.
- Load Times - Confirm that your mobile site loads in a timely manner. Compress all product images as they contribute the most to loading delays.
- Product Descriptions - Customers appreciate it when easily viewable images and full product descriptions are available with information in regards to sizes & colors.
- Show Accurate Stock Levels and In-Store Availability - Offer this feature to your customers on your mobile site or app and ensure it’s kept as current as possible to minimize customer confusion and frustration.
- Search Indexing Options - Confirm that the search results of engines such as Google or Bing are effective for customers, including options such as predictive text.
- High-Quality Customer Service - In-store customer service can sometimes make or break a sale. Provide the same personal, helpful experience on your mobile app or site that you offer at your physical location.
- Check-out Process - All aspects of the check-out process - including adding items to a cart, the payment process, and security - must work in order to make an easy transition from one step to the other.
An experienced ecommerce marketing agency should be able to help you audit your current ecommerce website, benchmark against industry competitors, and make recommendations to improve performance. Speed testing tools, FAQ pages, chat implementation, expanded product descriptions using keyword analysis, and inventory-level plug-ins are a few common ecommerce marketing tools we find ourselves adding to online stores for clients.
3. Retarget to Improve Ecommerce Marketing ROI
You thought you created a strong ecommerce marketing strategy, you got traffic to your website, and they browsed through your products but they didn’t buy anything. That's not necessarily a crippling problem — if you built retargeting into your ecommerce strategy. Retargeting tracks those who spent time on your website and the products that interested them so that you can reach out again through multiple channels. Catch their attention again and bring them back to your site for another chance at making a purchase.
There are multiple ways to implement retargeting tactics, but they ALL have to be set-up prior to getting started. Depending on the industry, we have seen good success with both abandoned cart emails and retargeted Google ads. And it doesn't stop with people who have come to your website. You can actually use the data from visitors to create what's called "look-alike" audiences to retarget to potential customers who have yet to even hear about your brand. But again, this all has to be incorporated into your initial strategy so that you're prepared to hit the ground running.
How Else Does DaBrian Marketing Help Retail Stores & Ecommerce Businesses?
Want more shoppers in your store? Need to increase online sales? Whether you need to create a plan or revise the one you have, our ecommerce marketing agency can help increase revenues while you tackle the rest of your ecommerce business. Here are some of the concrete ways that we can help:
- Incorporate Shopify or Woocommerce - We can design or update your store on multiple platforms, making it easier for shoppers to buy from you
- Bring Nearby Shoppers to Your Door - We are a full-service ecommerce marketing agency, with supporting expertise in Content, Social Media, and Organic Search (SEO)
- Promote Your Products on Shopping Engines and Marketplaces - We will implement best practices, content recommendations, and keywords that are relevant to your target audience
- Accelerate Sales Growth Through Paid Ads - We can supplement your online store with engaging Ads on Google, Bing, Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon
Let’s partner together not just to improve sales, but also to increase traffic to your brick-and-mortar stores. We can help you develop a new, profitable customer acquisition program that delivers results. We won’t stop there — DaBrian Marketing Group will test and adjust the marketing plan to improve your performance over time. Stop wasting valuable resources on pre-pandemic tactics — re-allocate your marketing spend to attract and engage the right customers, in the right place, at the right time. If you still have questions, contact DaBrian Marketing Group today.
